Grundislav Games Presents |
Foreword
At this point, you may be feeling a sense of deja-vu. You may have already ventured into the desert with Ben Jordan to look for the Lost Galleon, but this time you can do it the way it was meant to be done. Call it a remake, or a director's cut, or a deluxe edition, or whatever you like. The point is, this is what Case 2 should have been. So load up the game, enjoy the expanded story, new puzzles, and voice acting, and experience a proper version of Case 2.
[Contents]
The Story
Ben Jordan has just graduated college, and decided to become a freelance
paranormal investigator. Now on his second case, he is called out to the
small California town of Dunesberg to investigate a
man's disappearance while searching for the Lost Galleon, a legendary
treasure ship said to be buried somewhere in the desert.
[Contents]
Credits
A graphic adventure game by Francisco Gonzalez
Original Music by Andreas Slotte
Additional Music by Peter Gresser, Petteri Aartolahti, and Adam Hay
Beta Testing by Edmundo Ruiz, Petteri Aartolahti, Davy Stedham, Becky Leigh, and Ryan Keepence
Adventure Game Studio by Chris Jones
Tween Module by Edmundo Ruiz and Tzach Shabtay
Ben Jordan logo by Edmundo Ruiz
“I Can’t Hardly Stand It” (the music in the bar) by Charlie Feathers
Voice Credits
Ben Jordan: Eric Feurstein
Annie Roberts: hercrabbiness
George Roberts: Ty Konzak
Medicine Man: Francisco Gonzalez
Old Prospector: Shane Stevens
Supermarket Cashier: Taylor Minor
Barista: Sean Johnson
Bartender: Deven Mack
Indecisive Customer: Matt Gardner
British Tourist: Andy Marshall
Mama: Peter Gresser
Aqua Lad: Matt Gardner
Edgar Meadows: Francisco Gonzalez
Mullet Man: Ty Konzak
Ghost Captain: Edmundo Ruiz
[Contents]
Playing the Game
To run the game, double-click on the bj2deluxe.exe file. For more information on setting up the game, check out the section entitled AGS Game Settings.
Most of the screen is taken up by the main view window. This shows Ben Jordan and his current surroundings. Several objects in each room can be interacted with, and these are called 'hotspots'.
A gray bar appears at the top of the screen. This bar displays the game title and the current score. Whenever you accomplish something siginificant in the game, you will get a score point.
Move the mouse cursor there and the icon bar will appear. The pictures on the bar represent the following, from left to right:
- Walk to
- Look at
- Interact with
- Speak to
- Interrogate
- Open inventory
- Notepad
- Save game
- Restore game
- Quit
- About
[Contents]
Basic Commands
The first five pictures, when clicked on, will change the mouse cursor to the appropriate symbol. Then you may click on a hotspot in the main view window to use the appropriate symbol on said hotspot. You can also scroll through these commands by clicking on the right mouse button.
- WALK (walking mini-Ben): Click on any point in the room you want Ben to walk to, and he will do so if he can, otherwise he will go as close as he can to it.
- LOOK (eye): When used on a hotspot, Ben will examine it and you will get a message describing it. Click to close the text windows.
- INTERACT (hand): Click on a hotspot and Ben will walk over to it and then try to do an appropriate action - e.g. use a button to press it, use a door to open it. If he can't do anything or if he doesn't know what to do, the game will tell you.
- TALK (speech bubble with exclamation mark): Use this icon to make small talk with other characters.
- INTERROGATE (speech bubble with question mark): Clicking this on a character will cause Ben to open up a discussion with other characters.
[Contents]
The Inventory
Click on the picture of Ben's pocket to open the inventory. This displays all the items Ben is carrying with him - obtained by either interacting with them or being given them. Click first on the magnifying glass and then on an object to examine it in more detail. Click on the hand icon and then on the item to interact with it. Alternatively, inventory items can be held in Ben's hand and used on another interactive object. Click on the arrow and then on an inventory item - the cursor will become the same item. Now click again on something in the inventory to try and combine the two objects, or click 'OK' and click on a hotspot in the room to use the item on that.
[Contents]
The Notepad
Click on the picture of the notepad to open it. As Ben learns things in the game, he may write them down in the notepad. If you forget what you're supposed to be doing or just want to make sure you're on the right track, you can check the notepad. Click on the "Put Away" button to put it away.
[Contents]
Saving and Restoring
You can save your progress by clicking on the 'Save Game' icon and entering a name for your save game. Later on, when you come back to the game, you can click the 'Restore Game' icon and reload your saved game, so you don't have to play through the whole game again.
[Contents]
Hot Keys
- F5: Save game dialog
- F7: Restore game dialog
- F9: Restart game
- F12: Take screenshot (it will be saved as scrnshot.bmp in the game's folder)
- Alt+R: Record replay
- Ctrl+Q: Quit game
- Ctrl+T: Alternate between Voice Only, Voice and Text, and Text Only
Modes
[Contents]
AGS Game Settings
Ben Jordan: Paranormal Investigator comes with default settings so that you don't have to run the setup first in order to run the game. However, if you want to change any of the settings, you can access the game's setup by double-clicking on the winsetup.exe file.
- Resolution: You can change the game's resolution between 320x200 and 640x400. Ben Jordan: Paranormal Investigator was designed for 320x200 and it will run best at that resolution. However, if your screen can't handle 320x200 as a full-screen resolution, then try selecting 640x400.
- Run in a window instead of full-screen: It allows you to run the game in a standard window instead of filling up the whole screen.
- Use 85 Hz display (CRT monitors only): In case that the screen flickers while you run the game, check this option and it will get rid of the flicker. However, this will only work on CRT monitors and not on flat screen monitors.
- Force alternate letterbox resolution: This changes the aspect ratio of the game, showing black bars at the top and bottom of the screen.
- Anti-alias scaled sprites (fast CPUs only): Characters will look a lot smoother as they scale (become larger or smaller) on the screen.
- Downgrade 32-bit graphics to 16-bit: In case that your computer cannot handle a 32-bit graphic resolution, you can check this option. However, Ben Jordan: Paranormal Investigator was designed in 16-bit mode so this option will not affect the game.
- Digital Sound: Changes the kind of sound system the game will use to play the digital music and sounds.
- Use digital music pack if available: Plays digital music instead of midi music. Ben Jordan: Paranormal Investigator comes with the digital music pack and only features digital music; therefore, unchecking this feature will turn off the in-game background music.
- Use speech pack if available: Characters speak if there is a speech pack available.
- Game language: Changes the language of the game if you have downloaded a translation. Please check the Grundislav Games website for any available translations.
[Contents]
Advanced
- Replay: This option allows you to select the replays you recorded. You can record the game by pressing Alt+R anytime. When you quit the game, it will prompt you for a description and a file name and it will save it into a replay file.
- Maximum size: As explained in the window itself, you can limit the maximum amount of memory the game can use for its sprite cache. Usually, this option doesn't need to be changed from its default selection.
[Contents]
Copyright © 2004-2006 Francisco Gonzalez